nordic christmas

Danish roast pork with crackling is one of the most traditional Danish dishes that you can make. Keeping the skin on the pork roast gives the most perfect and delicious cracklings - ask your local butcher to leave the skin on. Can be served all year around and especially if you are having a Nordic Christmas dinner.

Danish Roast Pork With Crackling

kg Boneless pork roast

salt

bay leaves ((can be omitted))

Danish Roast Pork with Crackling

Use a sharp knife to cut long deep grooves in the rind of the pork roast. The grooves should be about 5 mm (1/5 inch) apart. Make sure to make deep grooves in the rind but do not cut into the actually meat.

Rub the entire roast thoroughly with coarse salt. Especially, make sure that you get lots of salt in the grooves.

Place 3-6 dried bay leaves in the grooves - this can be omitted if you do not have any.

Place the roast on a rack with a roasting pan underneath. In the roasting pan; add 1/2 liter (2 cups) of water and some sliced carrots and onions. This water with the vegetables can later be used to make a nice gravy. Make sure that the roast is lying in a horizontal position. You can use a ball of aluminium foil under the roast to level it. If you do not do this you risk that the rind gets an uneven color or get burned.

Preheat the oven to 225 C (440 F) and cook the roast for 15 minutes.

Turn down the heat to 200 C (400 F) and continue cooking.

When the core temperature is 57 C (135 F) turn on the grill function in the oven. This make sure that the rind gets nice and crisp. Keep an eye on the roast so that you don't burn it.

The roast is done when the core temperature is 65 C (150 F). It takes about 1.5 hours to reach this temperature. If the water evaporates during the cooking, you should add some extra.

When the roast is done; take it out of the oven. Let it rest for about 15 minutes or eat it right away. Cut the roast in slices at each groove.

If you want to make a nice gravy; drain the vegetables form the water and pour it in a sauce pan. Add some heavy cream and some brown gravy coloring. Add salt to taste.

Traditional and old-fashioned recipe for Danish Klejner (Fried twists). This is one of the most famous Danish Christmas cookies that you can make. Fresh and hot from the deep fryer - it does not get any better than this.

Danish Fried Twists (Klejner)

eggs

sugar

butter

lemon peel (optional)

g all-purpose flour

tsp cardamom

heavy cream

tsp baking soda

l oil

In a large bowl, whip egg and sugar into a light and fluffy mixture.

Add the soft butter and some grated lemon peel, whip well. Keep whipping until the mixture has an even consistency.

In a separate bowl, mix the all-purpose flour, baking soda and cardamom. Add the flour mixture and the heavy cream to the butter mixture and knead it well together. The dough must have a uniform consistency.

Leave the dough in the fridge for about 1 hour. This will make it a bit more firm.

Roll out the dough with a rolling pin until it has a thickness of about 0.5 cm (1/5 inch).

Cut the dough into long strips with a width of about 4-5 cm (1.6-2 inch).

Then cut the dough into slightly tilted strips. The result should be small 5x5 cm (2x2 incdiamond/rhomboid shaped dough pieces (see the pictures on NordicFoodLiving.com).

Cut a small 2 cm (4/5 inchole in each of the small dough pieces.

The dough pieces are now ready to be folded. This is actually pretty easy once you have learned the technique. Take one of the sharp corners and fold it through the center hole and pull it a little (see picture and video guide below).

In a deep-frier or sauce pan; heat up the oil to about 180 C (360 F).

Fry the klejner for about 2-3 minutes or until they are nice and golden. Flip them over a couple of times.

When the klejner are done; put them on a sheet of paper towel. This will absorb the excessive oil.

Keep the klejner in a cookie jar or cake tin. They are best when they are still a little warm.

This recipe is a traditional way of roasting almonds in the Nordic countries and especially in Denmark. Easy to follow and the result is very delicious. Typically served around December and Christmas in Denmark.

Nordic Sugar Roasted Almonds

almonds

water

Pour the almonds, sugar and water in a large saucepan. Heat up the pan at medium heat.

The water and sugar will start to boil and become a syrup. Stir and turn the almonds constantly.

Keep boiling the water and sugar until all the water is evaporated and the sugar starts to get solid and powdery again.

Now the sugar should start to melt slowly. When that happens turn down the heat a little bit. Stir in the almonds constantly. Don't let the sugar melt too much or it won't stick to the almonds.

When all the almonds have a nice, thin and brown layer of sugar all over, pour all the almonds onto an oven tray lined with parchment/baking paper.

Use a fork to separate the almonds from each other so that they don't stick together when they are cooled.

Let the almonds cool off and keep them in a glass jar.

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Danish Roast Pork With Crackling

Danish Fried Twists (Klejner)

Nordic Sugar Roasted Almonds

Top 3 nordic christmas recipes from across the web

The most viewed nordic christmas recipes by Recipe Cart users, saved from over 6,000 sites. Or, go to our Recipe Search Engineic_arrow_forward_48px

Top Tags

Danish Roast Pork With Crackling

Danish Fried Twists (Klejner)

Nordic Sugar Roasted Almonds

The most viewed nordic christmas recipes by Recipe Cart users, saved from over 6,000 sites. Or, go to our Recipe Search Engine